I attended part of the January meeting of the Richmond
Fire District Commission. For me it was
disheartening, though not surprising, to observe this year’s Chairman Dave
Washburn in action. What I saw was indeed
a meeting in the style of the “old boys club”; not a meeting of a Commission
that spends $500,000.00 our money. From
the start, Washburn immediately cutoff people he invited to speak when their
words were not what he wanted to hear.
These actions were right after his declaration that the Commission was
going to be open to the people because “we need to work together”. Frankly, Washburn’s crude interruptions of others recognized to
speak, followed by his telling long-winded personal stories to document HE was
right about the topic of the moment caused me to leave early.
However, before I left there were two notable actions
that warrant your awareness. The first
was Dave Washburn’s reminder that he became a commissioner because spending was
out of control and needed to be fixed. Ken
Adami requested financial assistance
from the Commission for the Fire Department to hold a dinner once a month for
its’ members, indicating a cost of $100.00 each month. Commissioner Washburn made a motion to
provide the Department, for one month, money to hold a dinner. When asked how much money, Washburn said
“whatever they need”. When told an
amount was required he proclaimed $200.00.
Is it his responsibility to impress, or to spend your money
prudently. I know it is a small amount
of money out of $500,000.00 and it is for a good cause; but an unbudgeted item
was approved without proper forethought to 11 ½ months to go in the year. It is the lack of the skill to run a business
that is the point.
The second item was Dave Washburn’s pronouncement that
he intends to be around the fire hall every day overseeing the paid personnel
because amongst other issues vehicle cleanliness and order is not being done
appropriately. The final issue that lead to my resignation a
year ago was this very one; holding accountable the paid staff’s completing
their Duties and Responsibilities. At the request of Chief Frost, we created a
Duties and Responsibilities form that required each specified duty to be
initialed as completed; and the overall form signed, dated, and turned in daily
with an explanation for any incomplete task.
The form was approved, accountability established, mission
accomplished. When Chief Frost called me
and Bob Hendler to a meeting to change the new form back to the old BECAUSE THE
PAID PEOPLE DID NOT LIKE IT (Deb Adams and Rob Sparks) my spark (no pun
intended) went out. I asked why an
employee who has generated the problem is telling the employer what should be
done. The Chief and Commission thought
it was important to keep them happy at the expense of YOUR tax dollars. The result has been continued
incompetence. Are you as surprised as I
am.
The buck stops at the top. Richmond taxpayers deserve leadership by
appropriate business skills, not an overly loud voice that dictates by
bullying. To offer comments and ask
questions, go to my Blog at ktfzem.blogspot.com.
